BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 29. For a month now, a vicious campaign has been underway in Türkiye against Azerbaijan, its leader, the Azerbaijani people and the state.
In fact, this process began earlier. Over the past three years, Azerbaijan has been repeatedly targeted, albeit with occasional lulls. The main issue has been Azerbaijan's cooperation with Israel. Those behind the campaign believe Azerbaijan should shape and conduct its foreign policy and economic relations according to their wishes.
This is a demeaning approach to Azerbaijan that denies its independence. It is a completely distorted interpretation of the principle of “one nation, two states.”
At the same time, numerous facts about Türkiye's own cooperation with Israel have come to light, and none of them has been officially refuted. Under these circumstances, why should the accusations against Azerbaijan be taken seriously?
The campaign flared up again with particular intensity in early October, using as a pretext the fact that an Azerbaijani representative did not leave the hall during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address at a UN session. Shortly afterward, following a decision by Azerbaijan's Cabinet of Ministers concerning a standard school uniform, the campaign became more vicious and repugnant than ever before, almost turning into a trending national issue in Türkiye's information space.
During this period, Azerbaijan and its leadership were subjected to an unprecedented torrent of criticism and insults. Even during the 30 years of confrontation with Armenia, such degrading rhetoric had never been directed at Azerbaijan on this scale.
Azerbaijan had expected such an attack from Iran, but instead suffered the harshest blow from Türkiye, a country it considered brotherly. Those delivering this blow were the ruling AKP and its supporters among Islamist and Nurcu groups.
Six rallies were held outside Azerbaijan's embassies in Ankara and Istanbul, with participants voicing serious accusations and insults.
Turkish media and social media distorted the issue of the hijab and carried it into the Arab world's information space, becoming a major driving force behind the anti-Azerbaijan campaign there.
Official Ankara intervened very late in the process and only then tried to take some action. Had these steps been taken in time, and had Ankara avoided not only incitement but also a passive, bystander stance, matters would never have reached this point.
As a result of the deliberate and sustained campaigns to demonize Azerbaijan, an unhealthy attitude toward the country and an unfavorable atmosphere have taken shape in Türkiye.
Reminder
In July 2024, the President of Türkiye did not attend the informal summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Shusha. The reason was that he attended the football match between the Turkish and Dutch national teams at the time.
Furthermore, Erdoğan did not attend the World Urban Forum held in Azerbaijan in May 2026 or the seventh summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in October.
Naturally, both objective and subjective factors determine whether a head of state attends an event in another country. However, one should not overlook the fact that reciprocity also matters in diplomacy.
On October 24, Azerbaijan hosted the opening of the FIFA U-15 World Championship and Festival for the first time in its history. The event will conclude on October 30.
None of this means that Azerbaijan is withdrawing from the OTS or scaling back its activities within the organization. Azerbaijan is one of its founding members and has made considerable efforts to develop the organization and expand its activities. It will continue working to advance the OTS.
Taking all these factors into account, it can be argued that the Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev made the right decision by not attending the OTS summit in Türkiye.
